Here There and Everywhere

Expat wanderer

Through the Eyes of AdventureMan

I’ve had some really smart friends in my life, and sometimes, those who are really really smart get confused about normal everyday things.

We had a wonderful friend, Bill. His wife was a high school teacher, and when he saw the sign “Aim High – Air Force!” on Ramstein Air Force Base, he said “Look, sweetie, there’s the high school!”

Another time, on Mother’s Day, we were sitting in church with Bill and his wife and my husband said to Bill “I really like your new Land’s End jacket!” and Bill said “How did you know it was from Land’s End?” and my husband said “Because you still have the label on the cuff.” We were all still crying from laughing so hard when the priest glared at the four of us (troublemakers!) as he processed down the aisle.

AdventureMan is a lot like that. He thinks differently. Driving along the Gulf Road the other day, he said “You wouldn’t think there was enough demand for models here that they would have a special school.”

00dasmanmodel

Then he said “what’s up with that?”

00entrenchmenttool

We both started laughing, because to us, it looks like something called an “entrenchment tool” or shovel, and we use them when camping to make a temporary toilet, so it’s not exactly something we would mount on the back of our truck, all gleaming and shiny. But we may be thinking differently, and there may be a really good reason this is done that we don’t know about, so if any of you know why it would be a good idea to mount a shiny shovel, please share!

The other night AdventureMan couldn’t get his at-home wireless connection to work, he’d been trying for several nights and couldn’t get a signal. I moved the stack of books and papers directly behind his laptop, between him and the router, and voila! instant wireless connection. He is a really really really smart man, but just has a little problem with the small things. 😉

(He always looks to see if I have mentioned him in the blog)

April 6, 2009 - Posted by | Adventure, Character, Entertainment, ExPat Life, Family Issues, Friends & Friendship, Kuwait, Marriage

18 Comments »

  1. *howling* love this post, khalti! Who knows what the mounted shovel means …!

    The Dasman school reminds me that the word for “model” (as in “example” or even “exemplar”, not as in “runway”) is one that I find very curious in Arabic. Its numoudhaj, which to me looks like an imported word. Does anyone know its etymology – its it Persian originally?

    Its a rainy grey Monday and despite my umbrella, I am damp and disheveled and headache-y. this post was a total godsend 🙂

    adiamondinsunlight's avatar Comment by adiamondinsunlight | April 6, 2009 | Reply

    • no it is a Bilingual School

      Dasman School Student's avatar Comment by Dasman School Student | April 30, 2009 | Reply

  2. Little Diamond, there was a Dasman School in Doha, too, I thought they were a chain of Indian curriculum schools(?) so could it be of Hindi or Urdu derivation?

    intlxpatr's avatar Comment by intlxpatr | April 6, 2009 | Reply

    • hey agool 7adik 3ala madrisat dasman!!! it’s English is good and most of their teachers from the U.S. and from Canada,so shut up

      Dasman School Student's avatar Comment by Dasman School Student | April 30, 2009 | Reply

  3. OMG…that’s EXACTLY what I said when I first saw Dasman Model School. Then one day I turned to my sis and said, “Wouldn’t it have been better English if they have said ‘Modeling School?’ My sis laughed and explained that it’s model as in the perfect example for sth. 🙂

    @ diamond: I doubt ‘numoudhaj’ is originally Persian. The Persian word for model is nemoneh

    Darya's avatar Comment by Darya | April 6, 2009 | Reply

  4. LooooooooL

    Men are so Typical!!! Doesnt matter where they are born and raised, they all end up sharing the same traits!!!!

    danderma's avatar Comment by Daddy's Girl | April 6, 2009 | Reply

  5. I am guessing the shovel is for when a tire gets stuck in a sand while off-roading!

    kinano's avatar Comment by kinano | April 6, 2009 | Reply

  6. Almost every wanait (truck) has a shovel put on it’s back like that coz most wanaits are used in the bur (dessert).. therefor they’ll all need to shovel around the stuck tires every once in awhile 🙂

    it’s a not so common sight nowadays coz the wanaits are a bit fancier than what they used to be and are used differently. I remember back till the mid 90’s the wanaits were all strictly for bur use and every wanait HAD to have a shovel like that on the back.. not always as shiny though 😀

    Yousef's avatar Comment by Yousef | April 7, 2009 | Reply

  7. That shovel makes me think of the “fancier” trucks that Yousef mentioned… maybe this truck owner didn’t have the money to pimp out his ride like some of the others we’ve seen around town. This guy settled for a ‘chrome’ shovel. Too funny.

    DaisyMae's avatar Comment by DaisyMae | April 7, 2009 | Reply

  8. LOL, Darya, you are one of my very very smart friends, for sure! 🙂

    LOL, Danderma – and WE marry them! 😉

    You are probably right, Kinano – I imagine it is a good idea to have a shovel. So why mount it like a trophy? Wouldn’t it be better to keep it in the tool-box built in on the back?

    Thank you, Yousef, and I got a smile over wanait – one group said that the originals were 18’s, and another group says it is the arabic pronounciation of “vanette”. Which do you think is right?

    DaisyMae – It really makes me grin, every time I see it. SO so shiny!

    intlxpatr's avatar Comment by intlxpatr | April 7, 2009 | Reply

  9. ahh the small things…that’s my non adventurous man! He has a way of complicating EVERYTHING!

    ummadam's avatar Comment by ummadam | April 7, 2009 | Reply

  10. LOL thats a cute post… specially at the end, and I was thinking the same thing, now he is gonna look up himself if he was mentioned on your blog!

    Ansam's avatar Comment by Ansam | April 7, 2009 | Reply

  11. funny post ! Having a shiny shovel like that is just for appearance’s sake. He’s never gonna use it. 😉
    Btw, just how high was that stack of books for it to block a wifi signal ? 😛

    Mathai's avatar Comment by Mathai | April 7, 2009 | Reply

  12. Ansam, sometimes he tells me “take this photo! put it on your blog!” and I tell him “get your own blog, AdventureMan!” Men are like cats – drama drama drama and SO vain! Give me a woman putting on her lipstick in the car any day (she can do it with one hand) as opposed to the men fixing their qutras with BOTH hands, endlessly, checking from this angle and that, steering with their knees, if they are steering at all, not looking anywhere but in the mirror! And they call US vain!

    Mathai – LLOOOLLL – let’s just say things have been stacking up for a while! 🙂

    intlxpatr's avatar Comment by intlxpatr | April 7, 2009 | Reply

  13. LLOOLLL, Ummadam – sorry, you got stuck in spam until I pulled you out.

    Sorry, See More – you got stuck in spam, too.

    intlxpatr's avatar Comment by intlxpatr | April 7, 2009 | Reply

  14. Madam Intlxpatr ;

    It is election season here in kuwait my dear , alot of bull will be going around , some has to shovel it .

    The owner of the pick up is just reminding us of his intent .

    daggero's avatar Comment by daggero | April 7, 2009 | Reply

  15. LLLOOOOLLL, Daggero! That is the best comment yet!

    intlxpatr's avatar Comment by intlxpatr | April 7, 2009 | Reply

  16. agool,7adkom min madrisat dasman!madrisat dasman a7la madrisa bil kuwait,and their English is good,bas awwwwwwwwaaaal!!!kan kila feeha hoshat ana kint feeha kan kila 6ag a9lan awal etha chift es3af ehnak ,mo ‘3areeba ta8reeban kil yom ityeey el es3af mo ‘3areeba 3indihom ,a9lan awal el asatitha yi5afoon min el 6alaba kanaw el 6alaba yi6igoon el asatitha 6ag!!! ehnak yigi6oon 3laik el 6awla oo etha 6a7at 3laik gool bye bye 7ag 3omrik,oo kanaw yigi6oon dabasa 3ala 6alib wala 6a7 ‘3ashyan!! 7asha 7albat mo9ara3a mo madrisa!! hathak awaaaaaaaaaaaaal!!! el7een 7adha ti’3yirat oo 9arat zaina oo 7ilwa.

    Dasman School Student's avatar Comment by Dasman School Student | April 30, 2009 | Reply


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